People who worked at the Westinghouse Atomic Power Development Plant in East Pittsburgh from 1942 to 1944 or their survivors may be eligible for federal compensation if the workers developed one of 22 types of cancer.

The National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health has recommended that employees of the plant in those years should belong to a "special exposure" group. Members of the group can qualify for a $150,000 lump sum payment and coverage of certain medical expenses.

Because even younger workers at the time would be in their 80s today, the most likely benefit will be for survivors to get the lump sum payment if their relative qualified under the program's medical criteria, federal officials said.

The East Pittsburgh plant prepared radioactive uranium for Nobel Prize winner Enrico Fermi's initial chain reaction experiments at Stagg Field in Chicago, which paved the way for the development of the first atomic bomb.

The compensation plan is part of the U.S. Department of Labor's program to pay workers exposed to radiation during the Manhattan Project and other atomic weapons work during and after World War II.

In most cases, workers must produce medical records proving that their work exposure led to their cancer. But in some cases, the occupational safety and health institute recommends that workers at certain facilities can be compensated simply by showing they got one of 22 types of cancer, without proving they were caused by workplace exposure.

Earlier this year, the agency recommended that workers at the former Vitro Manufacturing Co. in Canonsburg or their surviving family members should be put in such a compensation group.

In all, the federal government has now distributed more than $4.5 billion to about 48,000 people under the atomic workers compensation program.

Those seeking more information about whether they qualify for the East Pittsburgh payments can contact the NIOSH Office of Compensation Analysis and Support toll free at 877- 222-7570, directly at 1-513-533-6800 or by e-mail at ocas@cdc.gov.